Sid Meier’s Civilization® VI

Civilization 6 is about to get much, much weirder. A post on the Civilization blog on Thursday announced the "Australian Summer 2017 update," available now, includes support for Steam Workshop and modding tools for anyone who wants to give Dr. Eggman his own Civilization. The update also includes team support for multiplayer, premium DLC for the Australia civilization, and the usual balance changes and bugfixes.

Art/Asset Tools: Import FBX files into a format usable by the game, as well as customize existing art.

FireTuner: In-game debugging and editing tool.

Added Sid Meier’s Civiliation VI Development Assets, which includes the game art assets. This is a large download (approximately 7GB compressed download and 27GB on disk) which contains game assets, including models, textures, and interface elements.

The post also adds that ModBuddy will be updated in the future as part of a modding SDK update, and that "these tools do not include DLL source for Civilization VI at this time."

"In this 60 turn non-combat scenario, you race to explore Australia, find its natural resources, and use them to enrich your colony. This competitive economic scenario has no combat. It emphasizes exploration and territorial expansion to increase your Gold per Turn net income, which is your score."

Modding/Steam Workshop support, and the rest of the changes in this patch, are free.

Civilization 6 is set to add Australia to its turn-based 4X strategy bounds, which is the first time the land Down Under has featured in the series. Led by its 14th Prime Minister John Curtin, the Ozzies will enter the world domination fold as premium DLC alongside the game's forthcoming Australian Summer update.

Said to be "coming soon", the update itself will be free-of-charge and will see the introduction of both multiplayer teams and mod tools. "Steam Workshop will allow you to browse, add, and subscribe to mods more easily," reads this Steam community post, while other tools are set to make things easier for modders themselves. The addition of multiplayer will of course allow players to bundle up and conquer the world against AI or human opponents.

As for the Australian DLC, the new Civ will come packing a new unique ability, named Land Down Under, which provides cities extra housing when built on coastal tiles; a new unique unit, named The Digger, which replaces the infantry unit and offers additional power on land tiles adjacent to water; and a new unique improvement, the Outback Station, which unlocks with the guild civic and provides food and production—providing bonus food for adjacent pastures.

Today's launch of the Humble Civilization Bundle means that, for the low price of just $1, you can be the proud owner of Sid Meier's Civilization 3 Complete and Sid Meier's Civilization 4: The Complete Edition on Steam. And if you have more money, they have more games.

Bounce that buck up to more than the average purchase price and you'll add Civ 5, the Gods and Kings and Brave New World expansion packs, a big wad of DLC including Scrambled Continents, the Explorer's Map Pack, and the Civilization and Scenario packs, and coupons for 20 percent off Civ 6, and 25 percent off Civ 6 Digital Deluxe, in the Humble Store.

Make it $15 (or more, if you're feeling generous) and you'll also take home Civilization: Beyond Earth, and the Exoplanets and Rising Tide expansions.

That is a ridiculous amount of Civilization for a ridiculously good price. Dare to compare: Civilization 5, without the expansions, costs twice as much on Steam as this entire bundle, as do each of the expansions. The Civilization: Beyond Earth Collection, with the base game and the two expansions, lists for $60—four times the price of the bundle. Even Civ 4 is still $20, compared to $6 here.

The Humble Civilization Bundle is live now and will be available until 1 pm ET on March 7.

Some online stores give us a small cut if you buy something through one of our links. Read our affiliate policy for more info.

Australian will join Sid Meier’s globedwar for the first time in new DLC for Civilization 6 [official site], 2K have announced. WW2-era Prime Minister John Curtin will rise from the grave to lead them. Continuing the theme, 2K have also announced that the ‘Australian Summer’ update is “coming soon” to add neat-o features like official mod tools with Steam Workshop support and the option to play as teams in multiplayer. … [visit site to read more]

John Curtin was the 14th Prime Minister of Australia, serving from 1941 to 1945. He held office while the country was under direct threat of Japanese attack during World War II. He proved more than capable for the job through his landmark legislations, which greater unified the many states of Australia and assisted in its reconstruction following the war.

Curtin, leader of the Labor Party, sadly passed away while in office on July 5, 1945. He left behind a legacy of progressive social reform and civic responsibility that ensured he will forever be remembered as one of Australia’s most influential citizens.

Unique Unit: The Digger

Nicknamed “Diggers,” Australian troops served the Commonwealth with honor and distinction in both World War I and II, on multiple continents, and often at considerable sacrifice. Their slouch hat pinned up on one side became a distinctive part of their uniform.

Unique Improvement: The Outback Station

Australian cattle ranches are called Outback Stations and are synonymous with life in the Australian Outback. The largest, Anna Creek Station, is 6,000,000 acres (24,000 km squared; 9,400 sq mi) which makes it slightly larger than Israel and seven times larger than the biggest ranch in the US – King Ranch, in Texas. Many Stations still serve their original purpose as cattle ranches, while others have been converted into Outback experiences for tourists keen to sample the country life.

We've also announced details on the next update, coming soon. You can read about it here: http://steamcommunity.com/games/289070/announcements/detail/576861888092920827Follow the conversation on social media by using the hashtag #OneMoreTurn, and be sure to follow the Civilization franchise on social media to keep up to date with the latest news and information on Sid Meier’s Civilization VI.

This update for Civilization VI, available now for PC players and coming soon for Mac and Linux, includes some great new features, including premium DLC for the Australia civ (led by Prime Minister John Curtin) as well as free features for all PC players such as Steam Workshop and modding tools, as well as multiplayer team functionality.

Multiplayer teams and mod tools have been two of the community’s most-requested features, and we’re happy to bring them to Civilization VI. Steam Workshop will allow you to browse, add, and subscribe to mods more easily, and the other tools will make it easier for artists and modders to change the game. And in multiplayer you can team up with your friends to conquer the world together against AI or human opponents.

There are also balance changes and bug fixes in this update, ranging from trade routes to ice caps, obsolete units to AI upgrades. Please check out the complete list of changes below:

[NEW]

TEAMS:

Multiplayer Teams have been added to Civilization VI and this feature builds on updates to the Alliance agreement. Players on teams gain additional benefits (beyond those of an alliance), as follows:

When one teammate finishes research on a tech or civic, their teammate(s) receive a boost for that tech or civic.

Teammates share war status against opponents not on their team.

Teammates share allied status with opponents not on their team.

Teammates work together to win or lose the game as a single entity. The Religion and Culture Victories have been reworked so they are more cooperative.

The Religion Victory requires you to convert all civs to ONE of the religions started by your team.

The Culture Victory requires ONE member of your team to be culturally dominant over all players NOT on your team.

Art/Asset Tools: Import FBX files into a format usable by the game, as well as customize existing art.

FireTuner: In-game debugging and editing tool.

Added Sid Meier’s Civiliation VI Development Assets, which includes the game art assets. This is a large download (approximately 7GB compressed download and 27GB on disk) which contains game assets, including models, textures, and interface elements.

STEAM WORKSHOP

Access mods created by the Steam community via Steam Workshop

Share your mods with the Steam community with the Steam Workshop uploader.

ModBuddy will also receive additional updates in the future, as part of a modding SDK update later. These tools do not include DLL source for Civilization VI at this time.

[MISC]

Added True Start Location feature, where civs start on the world map at their geographic origin.

Added a City-State slider to game setup.

[BALANCE CHANGES]

Start position and map generation has been tuned.

Updated ice generation to allow more for circumnavigation.

Commercial Hub and Harbor both provide +1 Trade Route capacity, but only the first one applies (used to stack for +2 capacity total).

Units that are embarked now use an era-based strength value instead of their base combat value.

Many of the techs that reveal strategic resources have been changed to reveal the resource before it is needed to build a resource-dependent unit.

Players can now build obsoleted units if they do not have access to the strategic resource required by the upgrade unit.

Tech Tree balance. Adding several prerequisites to address paths through the tree that were too quick and led to era transitions too early.

Horseback Riding now requires Archery. Archery is no longer a leaf tech.

Stirrups is now in the late Medieval era and costs 390 (was early Medieval and cost 300).

Industrialization now requires Square Rigging.

Scientific Theory now requires Banking.

Steel now requires Rifling.

Computers now requires Radio.

Updated the cost and strength of some Air units.

Change movement rules after disembarkation. Cannot land on shore with more movement than your Land Movement allowance.

Updated Vikings Scenario to 60 turns.

[AI TUNING]

Increased desire and ability to use nukes and aircraft, and maintain a standing military. General AI attack improvements.

Increased desire to declare friendship.

Reduced frequency of “your troops are on my border“ warning.

Updated settlement preferences.

Barbarians now rampage when their camp is destroyed.

Will now liberate minor civs and cities of current allies.

Tuned strategic and luxury resource trading.

Will now be more aware of gold income, and work to bring in more.

Support units will recognize that they are not under threat if they share a hex with a friendly unit.

Added a grace period of 2 turns after the end of open borders before the AI starts complaining you're too close to their territory.

Barbarians may now pillage tiles to heal.

AI will now continue to research repeatable techs and civics.

[BUG FIXES]

Kongo relics no longer get multiplied Faith yields if more than one is in the same building

Fixed some bugs with Great People not interacting correctly with Vikings natural wonders.

Sumeria will no longer share joint war experience with a player when killing barbarians.

Corrected tourism calculation from National Parks to ensure correct awarding.

Fixed an issue where you could sometimes not offer Joint War.

Spies will not have the Steal Tech mission available when you have already completed all techs.

City States gain territory for influence even if they get the influence before founding their city.

When a player is destroyed, his captured spies die with him.

All of your active spy missions stop in a city that you or an ally has just captured.

Fixed problem in tactical combat that was preventing units from capturing builders

You are no longer allowed to declare war on declared friends (or in an enforced peace period) from the "troops near me" warning.

Added a notification for when a player loses territory to a culture bomb.

[AUDIO]

Adding some missing UI sounds.

VIKINGS DLC:

Added VO, and updated quotes, for three Natural Wonders.

Added VO to Natural Wonders while in the scenario.

[MISC]

Credits updated.

Fixed some missing ARX images.

Updating game concepts for City-States, Trade Routes, and Great People. Explained some things that were not there before (ex. Patronage, gold income for foreign routes passing through city), as well as some clarifications.

Australia Civilization & Scenario Pack

The team is often asked how they get their ideas for the civilizations in the game. The answer is: they listen to the community! Kongo was added to Civilization VI, as it was the most-requested civ by the community at the end of Civilization V. Australia has been a consistent top pick by our fans, and now appears in a Civilization game for the first time as premium DLC for Civilization VI.

John Curtin was Australia’s Prime Minister during World War II, and is credited with providing both strong leadership of the country at that time, as well as establishing the country to take its place in the post-war international order. In Civilization VI, his ability “Citadel of Civilization” gives Australia bonus production when they are targeted for war.

Australia is a civ that gets bonus housing for coastal cities, bonuses for building Districts on attractive terrain, and additional production if targeted for war. Australia’s unique unit is the Digger (which replaces Infantry), and their unique improvement is the Outback Station. Australia can grow and thrive in places where other civs would struggle. The Outback Tycoon scenario is a unique, non-combat scenario where you will try to enrich your new territory in a randomly-generated Australian interior. And Uluru comes to Civilization VI, bringing religion and culture to the territory that surrounds it.

John Curtin Unique Ability: John Curtin’s unique ability is called “Citadel of Civilization.” Australia gets bonus production at the start of a Defensive War, and when it liberates a city.

Digger: Australia’s unique unit is the Digger, which gets bonuses to combat on land tiles adjacent to water and when fighting outside their territory.

Outback Station: Unique tile improvement that unlocks with the Guilds civic, and can be upgraded with Steam Power and Rapid Deployment. It provides food and production, with bonus food for adjacent Pastures.

‘Outback Tycoon’ Scenario

In this 60 turn non-combat scenario, you race to explore Australia, find its natural resources, and use them to enrich your colony. This competitive economic scenario has no combat. It emphasizes exploration and territorial expansion to increase your Gold per Turn net income, which is your score.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/289070Follow the conversation on social media by using the hashtag #OneMoreTurn, and be sure to follow the Civilization franchise on social media to keep up to date with the latest news and information on Sid Meier’s Civilization VI.

Follow the conversation on social media by using the hashtag #OneMoreTurn, and be sure to follow the Civilization franchise on social media to keep up to date with the latest news and information on Sid Meier’s Civilization VI.

Official Civilization 6 mod tools and Steam Workshop integration aren't ready yet, but they are still on their way. Firaxis's Pete Murray reconfirmed during a multiplayer livestream today that "the team is working on those, and when we have more information to share with you, we will be sure to do so." You can watch the statement in the Twitch clip above, posted to Reddit by user ConsiderableNames.

Murray also included multiplayer teams in that list, which is another hotly requested item among the multiplayer community. We had previously heard these features were coming, but Firaxis hadn't given too much information recently about the status of them. So in this case, no news is good news as it means nothing was canceled.

Of course, the lack of official mod support hasn't stopped people from making great Civilization 6 mods, but the community hasn't grown in the way Firaxis's other hit XCOM 2's mod scene did by having mod and workshop support at launch. Obviously they are different teams working on the two games, but given the lush history of Civilization 5 mods one would think support would have arrived sooner. Still, it's always nice to see big developers support the mod community at all.

The Aztec civilization is now available for free to all players in Sid Meier’s Civilization VI. You should see the “Aztec Civilization Pack” listed under your DLC in Steam; if you’re not seeing it, try restarting your Steam client.

Previously available as a timed pre-order exclusive, the Aztecs have long been a staple of the Civilization series. Once again led by Montezuma, the Aztecs in Civilization VI are a strong conquest civ capable of converting defeated enemy soldiers into Builders to help quickly spread your empire. To learn more about the Aztecs, watch our First Look video below.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/289070Follow the conversation on social media by using the hashtag #OneMoreTurn, and be sure to follow the Civilization franchise on social media to keep up to date with the latest news and information on Sid Meier’s Civilization VI.

Video games always come with an expectation that the player will suspend disbelief to some extent. Genetically engineered super-soldier clones don t exist, radiation has never and will never work like that, and overweight Italian plumbers could never make that jump. In most cases, if we are unwilling or unable to suspend our disbelief, we may well struggle to enjoy the game and our questioning of the basics of its reality would probably make us insufferable to be around.

There are some games however, where the realities of our world are key to enjoying the game. These are the builders like City Skylines, simulators and sports games like Prison Architect and FIFA, and even crime games like Grand Theft Auto. One genre has a particular problem when it comes to maintaining a foot in the real world yet still creating a setting where one can have fun without becoming mired in morally questionable events and choices: historically based games. And among historical games, few subjects are as complex to represent as slavery. Many have tried, from Europa Universalis IV and Victoria II to Civilization and Assassin’s Creed: Freedom Cry, and in this article I’ll investigate the portrayal and use of slavery in these games and more to explore what they get right, what they get wrong, and how games could do better in future.